Schwander



(No Model.)

R. G NEUENSOHWANDEB. APPARATUS FOR TREATING CRUDE ALKALINE MATERIAL.

No. 339,681. PatntedApr. 13, 1886.

N. PETERS. Pmwunw n m'. w-shin ccn. D. (L

UNTTED STATES PATENT EEicE.

RUDOLPH G. NEUENSOHWANDER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO ILLIAM T. COLE-MAN, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING CRUDE ALKALINE MATERlAL.

SPECEFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,681, dated April 13, 1886.

Application filed June 15, 1585. Serial No. 108,802. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH G. NEUEN- scnwnrznnn, of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Apparatus for Treating Crude Alkaline Material; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to the class of apparatus for treating crude alkaline material, especially borates; and my invention consists of a boiler or pan, a chute or passage into which the material is fed, a pump or other elevating apparatus for taking the liquidfrom the boiler and discharging it upon the material in the chute, and a supplementary receptacle or pan with which the discharge end of the chute communicates, said supplementary pan being in communication with the boiler, all of which I shall hereinafter fully describe.

Though my invention may be applied to the treatment of any crude alkaline material, it is especially adapted for the treatment of borate material in the manufacture of borax, and I shall consequently describe it in connection therewith.

It has been the custom to employ a boiler or pan to which heat is applied either by steam, or, as is most generally the case, by direct fire. In this boiler the crude borate material is placed, and is subjected, in connection with a suitable amount of water, to a boiling temperature, the effect of which is to dissolve the soluble portions of the material, and to precipitate the practically insoluble portions, such as sand, clay, lime, &c. This sediment collects and cakes upon the bottom of the boiler, and requires constant attention in scraping it out, and where a direct fire is used this sediment is further disadvantageous in causing the boiler to burn out very quickly. Again, in this customary process the solution is effected only in the limited extent of the boiler.

It is the object of my invention to increase the efficiency of the apparatus by causing the material to work its way along with a constantly-flowing current throughout a greater extent, and also, and principally, to prevent the burning out of the boiler occasioned by the caking of the sedimentin its bottom, which latter object is effected by employing or providing a supplementary receptacle or pan, in which the precipitation takes place, and from which the sediment can readily be removed without interfering with the liquid solution which passes on its course until it has acquired the requisite density.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of my apparatus with a furnace in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the same.

A is the boiler or main pan, to which heat from a furnace or heater, A, is to be applied, either by steam or fire, and in which is contained a quantity of water raised to the boiling temperature. Within the boiler is the supplementary receptacle or pan B, of a length much shorter than the boiler, and smaller in other dimensions, adapting it to fit loosely therein, whereby a surrounding water bath is obtained. One end of the supplementary pan is provided with an overflow-spout, b, by which its liquid contents are discharged into the boiler. Above the boiler is the inclined chute O, the bottom of which is provided with transverse riffle-bars c. The lower end of the chute is in communication with and is adapted to discharge into the supplementary pan B. Its upper end is provided with a receiving-hop per, D.

E is a pump, which may here stand for any suitable water-clevati ng device. Its upper end fits down within the boiler, and its dischargespout c communicates with the hopper D.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The crude borate material is placed in the hopper D. The pump is then operated, whereby the boiling water in the boiler is elevated and discharged into the hopper over the material, which then passes down the chute, the soluble portions being taken up by the water,and is discharged into the supplementary pan B. Here, being still subjected to the heat, the practically insoluble portions-such as sand, clay, lime, &c. -are precipitated, while the liquid solution overflows through spout 1) into the boiler again, and is taken up by the pump and discharged again on the fresh borate material in the hopper, and continues its course as before. This is continued until the liquid solution has acquired the required density, when it is drawn or siphoned off, to be subjected to the crystallization process.- The sediment is all within the supplementary pan, and may be scraped out when.

convenient. It has no tendency to burn the bottom of the pan B, because said pan lies in a water-bath, and thus protectsboth itself and and the boiler. WVhen the boiler is heated by steam, although this tendency to burn out does not exist, still the presence of large quantities of sediment in the boiler interferes with the drawing off of the liquid solution, so that as clear a liquid as required cannot well be obtained; but with my apparatus this difficulty is overcome, for the reason that there is no sedimentin the boiler from which theliquid solution is drawn off. The chute 0 effects a further advantageous result in that it provides for a continuous circulation of greater extent than could be had in the boiler alone, and therefore the water is given more time to dissolve the soluble portions of the material, and the solution is therefore more complete.

The object of the rifiles c in the chute is to retard the progress of the material somewhat, so as to extend the time of the operation, but more especially to hold the lumps of salt, which contain borate of soda and are not readily soluble. These being held for a short time the water has a better chance. to dissolve them,and to take out the soluble portions before they are discharged into the supplementary pan.

It is obvious that I need not confine myself to the location of the supplementary pan here described. I may place it above the main boiler or beyond it, provided it is suitably connected with said boiler, so that its liquid contents may pass from it to the boiler; but I prefer placing it within the main boiler, as shown, for the reason that the same heat may do for both boiler and pan, and their contents be kept at the required temperature.

It is obvious that for the single purpose of increasing the extent in which the dissolving process takes place the supplementary pan may be omitted, and the chute be made to discharge directly into the boiler.

, Having thus described my invention, what I claimgis new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An apparatus for treating crude alkaline material, comprising a boiler or pan, a furnace or heater for heating the same, a chute to which the material is fed and by which it is discharged into the boiler, and a pump or other water-elevating device adapted to raise the water from the boiler and discharge it into the chute upon the material.

2. An apparatus for treating crude alkaline material, comprising a boiler, a furnace or heater for heating the same, a superposed inclined chute discharging into the boiler and having a feed-hopper at its upperend,to which the material is fed, and a pump by which the water from the boiler is raised and discharged into the the hopper upon the material, substantially as herein described.

3. An apparatus for treating crude alkaline material, comprising a boiler or main pan, a heater, an inclined chute discharging into the boiler, and provided with rifiiesc anda hop per, D, and thes-pump by which the water of the boiler is discharged into the hopper, substantially as herein described.

4. In an apparatus for treating crude alkaline material, the combination of the waterboiler or main pan A, and a heater with the supplementary receptacle or pan B,into which the water and material are fed and from which the liquid I solution passes into the boiler, substantially as herein described.

5. In an apparatus for treating crude alkaline material, the combination of a Waterboiler or main pan, a furnace or heater for heating the same, a. supplementary receptacle or pan adapted to discharge its liquid solution into the boiler and to retain the sediment,and a chute into which the water from the boiler and the alkaline material are fed, and from which they are discharged into the supplementary receptacle or herein described.

6. An apparatus for treating crude alkaline material, comprising the boiler or main pan A, a furnace or heater, the chute C, a

pan, substantially as pump or water-elevating device, E, by which the water of the boiler is discharged into the chute, and a supplementary receptacle or pan, B, communicating with the boiler and receiving the contents of the chute, substantially as herein described.

7. An apparatus for treating crude alkaline material, comprising the boiler or main pan A, a furnace or heater, the supplementary receptacle or pan B within the boiler and having an overflow for discharging its contents into said boiler, the inclined chute O,discharginginto the supplementary receptacle, and,

the pump E, adapted to discharge the water from the boiler into the chute, substantially as herein described.

8. An apparatus for treating crude alkaline material, comprising the boiler A, a furnace or heater, the supplementary receptacle or pan B within the boiler and connected therewith by an overflow, the inclined chute 0, adapted to discharge into the supplementary receptacle, the hopper D at the upper end of the chute for the material, and the pump E, adapted to raise the water from the main boiler and discharge it over the material in the hopper, substantially as herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

RUDOLPH G. NEUENSCHWANDER.

Vitnesses:

S. H. NoURsn, H. 0. LEE.

IIO 

